Barnes & Noble CEO Len Riggio Predicts only two years remain for B&N’s viability as a business if drastic measures aren’t taken. Riggio admits that while educational toys and games have slowed the decline in sales, he has no idea what the “magic bullet” is to turn things around.
photo: Flickr/Mike Kalasnik
Well Duh…
I hate to tell them “I told you so,” but…
The traditional publishing world continues to have absolutely no idea how to determine what people are buying and why. A lot of this has to do with them completely discounting (as in “not considering”) e-book and paperback sales from independent authors. “Data Guy” and Hugh Howey (over at http://authorearnings.com/) have demonstrated this time and again. We’ve grown into a mighty force. Will traditional publishing and book sellers catch up before it’s too late?
There’s room for everyone in this industry. But many of the key players don’t seem to have gotten the memo yet. Time is running out for “big box” book sellers like Barnes & Noble, unfortunately. There are ways to turn this around if they would stop dismissing potential solutions outright.
How about establishing a “Quality Control” board to review and license/purchase titles produced by independent authors? These are the titles people are actually buying, but the true sales figures are hidden or ignored. I can imagine several forms this board could take right now. I’m practically writing their processes in my head as I type this.
If Barnes & Noble would spend a few hours over at Author Earnings, I’m sure they’d come away with some solid ideas.
Click the “source” link for the entire article.
On a call about its just-reported disappointing third-quarter financial performance, Barnes & Noble CEO Len Riggio said that although the company has found success with some new categories, it still hasn’t found a ‘magic bullet’ to stop the overall sales slide.
Source: B&N Still Searching For ‘Magic Bullet’ to Stop Sales Slide
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About Nat Russo
Nat Russo is the Amazon #1 Bestselling Fantasy author of Necromancer Awakening and Necromancer Falling. Nat was born in New York, raised in Arizona, and has lived just about everywhere in-between. He’s gone from pizza maker, to radio DJ, to Catholic seminarian (in a Benedictine monastery, of all places), to police officer, to software engineer. His career has taken him from central Texas to central Germany, where he worked as a defense contractor for Northrop Grumman. He's spent most of his adult life developing software, playing video games, running a Cub Scout den, gaining/losing weight, and listening to every kind of music under the sun. Along the way he managed to earn a degree in Philosophy and a black belt in Tang Soo Do. He currently makes his home in central Texas with his wife, teenager, mischievous beagle, and goofy boxador.
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